(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a decorative simulated ceramic article and its manufacture; more especially the invention is concerned with panels defining a plurality of simulated ceramic tiles.
(b) Description of Prior Art
Individual decorative ceramic tiles may be made by hand painting a design on ceramic substrate made by fusing earthy raw materials in which silicon, silicon oxide and silicates predominate; a transparent glaze coating is applied over the decorated substrate and the glaze is fired in an oven to produce the tile. The glaze coating forms an irregular surface since the substrate is not completely flat due to the hand painted design.
Methods are also known for the screen stencil application of ceramic decorations to ceramic objects, one such method being described in Canadian Pat. No. 546,597 of Christian C. Jessen, issued Sept. 24, 1957.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,915, Burrel et al, there is disclosed a three-dimensional simulated wood grain product and its manufacture; a silicone-containing ink is employed to repel the top coat, however the top coats employed are colourless, transparent coatings which will not produce a ceramic effect. In particular Burrell et al are concerned with the production of a three-dimensional feel and appearance in the surface of simulated articles so as, for example, to give the three-dimensional sensation that natural wood gives when touched.
Simulated articles which Burrell et al were seeking to improve were of a completely flat appearance. In these prior articles the coloured pattern, for example the wood grain, was printed on the substrate in successive printing stages on a base, in order to produce the appropriate different colours and patterns for the individual colours. A colourless, transparent top coat was then applied to the coloured printed base as a protective surface for the coloured printed pattern. The top coat was necessarily colourless since a coloured top coat would mask the carefully printed coloured pattern produced by the several printing stages.
Thus in the simulated articles which Burrell et al sought to improve, a colourless top coat composition was employed solely to produce a protective coating for the printed pattern.
Burrell et al made a significant advance especially in the art of similating wood grain by employing the conventional colourless top coat compositions not only as protective coatings but also to produce a three-dimensional feel and appearance, without mechanical embossing of the protective top coat surface.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,753,616, Mougey there is described the use of a thin clear lacquer or thin lacquer containing pigment as a top coat for a coloured cellulose nitrate main coat on an automobile body; the purpose of the lacquer top coat is described as being to eliminate scratches, orange peel effects, "blushes", or other surface irregularities that would otherwise be visible. Mougey indicates that the presence of pigment in the thin lacquer improves the durability of the main coat. It is clear that the pigmented main coat is the source of colour in the automobile body and when a pigmented thin lacquer is employed by Mougey, the pigment in the thin lacquer is the same as the pigment in the main coat. Indeed when the main coat is of a plurality of colours Mougey indicates that a colourless thin lacquer must be employed or the different colours must be masked, as with masking tape, to avoid application thereto of a pigmented thin lacquer of a different colour.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,073,624, Casto, there is described a method of simulating natural materials, such as wood and stone, employing a bright metal substrate as the base in order to obtain the lustre or sheen which is characteristic of the natural material. Casto avoids the use of an opaque base coat but employs a top coat and a base coat which are clear or slightly pigmented to render them translucent, with an intermediate inked design layer which substantially covers the base coat so that the metallic character of the base surface is fully concealed; in particular the printed design is applied so as to clearly expose only small areas of the underlying coated surface. Thus the translucent or transparent top coat of Casto is employed with the translucent or transparent base coat in conjunction with a printed design which substantially covers the base, in order to conceal the metallic character of the base while retaining a sheen or lustre emanating from the metallic base.